Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take the introduction from the Treasurer, who might know. It is a subsidy because it's a tax cut that's not being applied more broadly. We didn't subsidise the iPhone, we didn't subsidise computers—we didn't provide tax cuts on those, if the Treasurer wants to go down that road. I find it increasingly strange that we have to continue to provide these subsidies—or tax cuts, as the Treasurer wants to put it—for new technology when historically we've never had to do that. The market will take care of these things itself as people take the opportunity, and that's why we don't need to take this step.

As I said in my earlier remarks, before the Treasurer got here—and he has many people in his electorate in the same socioeconomic situation as mine—they will not benefit from this because they do not work in jobs where they get fringe benefits tax or salary sacrifice arrangements. At the same time, their fuel costs are going to go up from the end of September, and the Treasurer has had nothing to say about that whatsoever.

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